BALLSTON SPA – A 92-year-old man has been identified as the man struck and killed by a car Saturday in Ballston, state police said Tuesday.
State police responded to 187 Eastline Road at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. They found the driver was headed south on Eastline when she saw a man in her lane. She was unable to stop before striking him, state police said. The man died of his injuries.
Police identified the man struck as 92-year-old Robert Downing, of Ballston Lake.
Alcohol and drugs have been ruled out. No charges are pending against the driver, troopers said.
Obituary: Robert W. Downing
Downing, known as “Pumpkin Downing” was a vegetable farmer on his family’s farm, where he lived his whole life, according to his obituary. He sold his vegetables at local farmer’s markets for years.
The Daily Gazette spoke with Downing in 2010 about his farm stand. He’d had the stand for 50 years, he said then. He grew everything he sold from seed and sold in both the Saratoga Springs and Clifton Park farmer’s markets. Then 84, Downing said he didn’t plant as much as he used to, but he continued to work more than an acre of land.
Memorial contributions in his memory may be made to the Saratoga County Animal Shelter, his obituary reads.
2010 story: More small farm stands pop up on roadsides, Aug. 29, 2010
Categories: -News-, Saratoga County
